Thursday, April 02, 2009

Tourism: Despite the downturn, Queen Elizabeth maiden voyage sells out in 29 minutes

The October 2010 Maiden Voyage for Cunard's new ocean liner Queen Elizabeth, which was placed on worldwide sale to past guests at 8:00 a.m. today, sold out in an amazing 29 minutes - easily making this the fastest selling voyage in Cunard's 170-year history. In fact, this voyage sold out quicker and involved more guests than QE2's Final Voyage when it set a previous Cunard sell-out record of 36 minutes in June 2007.

More than half of Queen Elizabeth's remaining maiden season, comprising six voyages from October to December 2010, was sold within the first two hours.

"This is an impressive record set by what will be an impressive ship and speaks volumes for the Cunard brand as well as for the resilience of the cruise sector as a whole in these challenging times," said Carol Marlow, president and managing director of Cunard Line. "It has also been very encouraging to see the level of interest in Queen Elizabeth coming from all our international markets, with bookings in the UK, US and Germany particularly strong.

Source: Cunard Line
Published by Mike Hitchen, Mike Hitchen Consulting
Putting principles before profits